Ira Bowman
Assistant Coach

Ira Bowman enters his fifth season as an assistant coach on Bruce Pearl’s staff at Auburn for the 2022-23 campaign.

Auburn has been ranked in the Top 10 four out of the last five years since his arrival on The Plains. The Tigers have also gone to a Final Four (2019), put together a consensus Top 5-ranked recruiting class and been ranked No. 1 in the country for the first time ever.

Named one of the Top 5 high major assistant coaches in college basketball by MCA.com, Bowman was integral in the recruitment and development of Jabari Smith (No. 3 draft pick in 2022), Isaac Okoro (No. 5 draft pick in 2020), JT Thor (No. 37 draft pick in 2021) and Sharife Cooper (No. 47 draft pick in 2021). Smith was the 2021-22 squad’s leading scorer (16.9 ppg), a consensus first team All-American, National Freshman of the Year and SEC Freshman of the Year.

Coming to Auburn as a fringe Top 40 player, Okoro became the first one-and-done in program history and is an expected Top 10 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. Okoro became just the sixth player in SEC history to be named to an all-conference team, all-defensive team and all-freshman team in the same season by the league’s coaches.

In his first season on The Plains, the Tigers set a program record for wins (30), 3-pointers (454), steals (369) and blocks (190) en route to an appearance in the Final Four.

Auburn earned its way to the first Final Four by way of defeating the three winningest programs in NCAA history - Kansas, Kentucky and North Carolina - in consecutive games, becoming the first team ever to do so.

The Tigers also won four games in four days to capture the second Southeastern Conference Tournament title in the Auburn record books (1985).

The Tigers finished the season ranked 14th in the final Associated Press poll, the fourth-highest finish in program history.

Auburn also notched a top-10 recruiting class in November, highlighted by five four-star players.

Bowman came to Auburn after spending the past six seasons at the University of Pennsylvania under head coach Steve Donahue. He was instrumental in the recruitment of team’s top players and in the on-court development of the Quakers’ perimeter players.

Last season, Bowman helped lead Penn to a 24-9 record, an Ivy League title and a return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 11 seasons. It was the Quakers’ first conference crown since 2006-07.

Bowman guided seven all-conference players during his tenure at Penn, including three during the 2017-18 season, and helped lead the Quakers to 74 wins.

The Newark, N.J. native arrived at Penn after spending four years at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), where he assisted in one of the top turnaround jobs in the country. The year before Bowman arrived at NJIT, the Highlanders were winless (0-29), and in his first season, they went 1-30. After that, the Highlanders went 15-15 overall including a 9-3 Great West Conference mark in 2010-11. His final year, NJIT went 15-17 overall and advanced to the Great West Conference championship game.

Before entering the collegiate coaching profession, Bowman spent four years as director of the Assist by Knight Foundation. In addition, he has experience with several aspects of the NBA including serving as an administrator at the NBA’s FIBA Tournament in Las Vegas as well as participating in the NBA’s Player Development Assistant Coaches Summit in 2007.

Bowman played two years at Penn, the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons, after transferring from Providence College. In his first year with the Quakers, Penn went 22-6 overall and 14-0 in Ivy League play en route to its third straight Ancient Eight title. Bowman was Second Team All-Ivy that season.

As a senior, Bowman was the Ivy League Player of the Year and First-Team All-Philadelphia Big 5 as he led the Quakers to a 17-10 record that included a 12-2 mark in Ivy play.

In his two seasons at Penn and two campaigns at Providence, Bowman combined for 918 points, 228 assists and 139 steals.

Following his playing days with the Quakers, Bowman enjoyed a professional playing career that included stints with the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and Atlanta Hawks. He also played overseas in Italy and Australia, as well as the Continental Basketball Association.

Bowman played his high school career at Seton Hall Preparatory School where he was the school’s all-time leading scorer. He scored 1,488 points in his three-year varsity career, including 19.6 per game during his senior season when he led the team to a 31-1 record.

Bowman and his wife, Rayna, have one son, Jeremiah.

Steven Pearl
Assistant Coach

Steven Pearl, who was promoted to assistant coach prior to the 2017-18 campaign, is entering his ninth year overall on the Auburn men’s basketball coaching staff.

In his five seasons as an assistant coach, Pearl has been instrumental in one of the biggest rebuilds - both on and off the court - in college basketball.

His duties on the bench include opponent scouting, defensive strategies and adjustments as well as in-game play calling. Pearl also has played a huge role in the development of Auburn’s big men to go along with a fervent recruiting strategy.

This spring, he was named one of the 50 most impactful high-major assistant coaches in NCAA Division I basketball by Silver Waves Media after the Tigers earned a No. 1 national ranking for the first time in program history and won the SEC regular-season title in 2021-22. Auburn has now reached the Big Dance three times in the last five seasons including a NCAA Final Four berth in 2019.

Off the court, he has aided in player development and recruiting as the Tigers have produced numerous NBA Draft prospects over the years including Jabari Smith (third overall draft pick by the Houston Rockets in 2022), Walker Kessler (22nd overall draft pick by the Memphis Grizzlies traded to the Utah Jazz in 2022), Sharife Cooper (48th overall draft pick by the Atlanta Hawks in 2021), Isaac Okoro (5th overall draft pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2020), JT Thor (37th overall pick by the Detroit Pistons) in 2021) and Chuma Okeke (16th overall pick by the Orlando Magic in 2019).

He served as acting head coach against North Alabama resulting in his first career coaching victory, 70-44, on Dec. 14, 2021 at Neville Arena.

In April of 2022, he also participated in the National Association of Basketball Coaches and Athletic Director U’s invitation-only Collegiate Coaching Consortium at the 2022 NCAA Men’s Final Four in New Orleans. The consortium brought together rising basketball coaches and Division I athletic directors for a rigorous, multi-day academy, helping those rising coaches prepare for their first head coaching opportunity.

Pearl has been in charge of the team’s academics in one of the biggest success stories on campus. Since he arrived on The Plains in 2014, the Tigers have graduated 32 student-athletes - most in the SEC - and averaged an Academic Progress Rate of 995 (out of 1,000), which includes four perfect scores. In the previous four seasons, Auburn had an average score of 940.

The Tigers had another banner year in 2019-20 after going 25-6, finishing second in the SEC and what surely would have been a third consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament before it was canceled.

Auburn became one of four major programs to record three consecutive 25-win seasons, joining Duke, Kansas and Kentucky.

Following a win in the season finale at Tennessee, the Tigers also set a program record with most SEC wins over a 3-year period with 36, breaking a 60-year mark of 35 between 1958-60.

With a second-place finish in the regular season standings, Auburn secured its fourth straight season inside the top four, joining Kentucky as the only other team in the league to accomplish the feat.

Samir Doughty became the first Auburn player to be named First Team All-SEC since 1999, while Isaac Okoro became just the sixth player in SEC history to be named to an all-conference team, all-defensive team and all-freshman team in the same season by the league’s coaches.

Pearl and the staff signed a consensus top-10 recruiting class, highlighted by the highest-rated recruit in program history in five-star Sharife Cooper, the third McDonald’s All-American to enroll at Auburn.

Auburn had arguably the greatest season in program history in 2018-19, highlighted by the program's first trip to the Final Four. The Tigers defeated Kansas, Kentucky and North Carolina on the historic run, becoming the first team ever to defeat the three winningest programs in NCAA history in consecutive games in NCAA Tournament history.

Pearl was crucial in the development of Chuma Okeke, who was chosen 16th overall in the 2019 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic. Okeke became the first Auburn player drafted since 2001 and was the fifth-highest pick in program history, including the seventh first-round choice all-time.

The Tigers also notched a top-10 recruiting class in November, highlighted by five four-star players.

The 2017-18 season was a record-breaking campaign as Auburn captured its third Southeastern Conference title in program history behind a 26-8 record, including 13-5 in conference play. The 26 wins were the second-most in a single season, while the Tigers accomplished 13 league wins for just the third time ever.

Auburn led the SEC wire-to-wire, leading from a Jan. 2 win at Tennessee until clinching the title March 3 in a victory against South Carolina.

Auburn made its ninth appearance in the NCAA Tournament in program history and first since 2003. The 2018 Tigers were the third team in the record books to have earned a 5 seed or higher.

Pearl helped coach four players who entered the NBA Draft, including center Austin Wiley, who was invited to the NBA Combine.

Big man Anfernee McLemore was named to the SEC All-Defensive Team after notching 73 blocks, the most by any player in the country to play in less than 30 games. Fellow post Chuma Okeke pulled down 197 rebounds in his first season on campus, the highest total by a freshman since Jeff Moore in 1984-85.

Pearl spent the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons as the director of basketball operations after his first year as an assistant strength and conditioning coach.

As the director of operations he was in charge of team travel while also helping plan team practices, working with the team's academics and all of the Auburn Basketball Camps.

Pearl was a four-year letterwinner for his father, Bruce Pearl, at Tennessee, playing in 101 games from 2007-11. He helped Tennessee to back-to-back SEC East Championships in 2008 and 2009, with the '08 team winning the league by two games over Kentucky and Mississippi State. He also appeared in the NCAA Tournament each year he was a part of the program with the Volunteers advancing to the Sweet 16 in 2007 and 2008 and the Elite 8 in 2010.

Pearl, who was a three-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll, graduated from the University of Tennessee with a degree in marketing and international business in December 2010. He has also taken classes towards a graduate degree.

Following graduation, Pearl was a medical sales representative for Stryker Corp for three years before joining the Auburn staff.

Pearl played for West High School in Knoxville, Tenn., where he was an all-state and All-PrepXtra selection by the Knoxville News Sentinel. While in high school he led the U.S. Men's Basketball Team to a gold medal at the 2006 Maccabi Games in Sydney, Australia, an accomplishment he would repeat as a gold medal winner in the 2009 Maccabi Games in Israel.

He and his wife, Brittany, were married on Aug. 27, 2022.

Corey Williams
Assistant Coach

Corey Williams, a 23-year coaching veteran and player for the 1993 NBA Champion Chicago Bulls, is in his first year as an assistant men’s basketball coach on Head Coach Bruce Pearl’s staff.

Williams previously served as an assistant coach the last two seasons at Texas Tech University, including interim head coach. The Red Raiders advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 and finished the 2021-22 season with a perfect 18-0 record at home for the first time in program history, ranked No. 12 in the final Associated Press Top 25 Poll and No. 1 in the Kenpom.com adjusted defensive efficiency ratings.

“We are very fortunate to be able to attract a coach with the kind of experience, character and reputation as Corey Williams,” Pearl said. “Not only was he a great college and pro player, but Corey is also a terrific coach and an even better person. A Macon, Georgia, native, he and his family are excited about moving to Auburn and being closer to home. It’s going to be a great fit with our Auburn Family.”

Williams is no stranger to the Southeastern Conference having worked as an assistant coach at the University of Arkansas from 2019-21, after six seasons as the head coach at Stetson University from 2013-19.

“I want to thank God and Coach Pearl for an amazing opportunity to join his staff,” Williams said. “Coach Pearl is a proven winner in every sense of the word. My family and I look forward to being a positive attribute to his staff, the university, and community. I am truly thrilled and look forward to Coach’s mentorship and helping him win more championships in the near future.”

Williams was a star player at Oklahoma State from 1989-92 and had a lengthy career as a professional player, before embarking on his coaching career. He was a second-round draft pick of the Chicago Bulls and was also selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 12th round of the 1992 NFL Draft, despite not having played football since junior high.

At OSU, Williams played point guard for Hall of Fame coach Eddie Sutton and later worked as a student assistant at his alma mater in 1994, serving as a member of the Cowboys’ staff during the program’s Final Four campaign.

Next to Sutton, Williams has also been mentored by Phil Jackson, Bill Self, Leonard Hamilton and Eric Musselman during his career as a player and assistant coach.

While at Arkansas, Williams helped lead a resurgence where the Razorbacks went 45-19 in his two seasons including a NCAA Elite Eight appearance in 2021. He helped Arkansas land the fifth-best recruiting class in the nation which led to the program advancing to the Elite Eight where its season ended after an 81-72 loss to eventual national champion Baylor. The Razorbacks eliminated Texas Tech with a 68-66 win in the second round to reach the Sweet 16.

During his tenure as head coach at Stetson, several players broke long-standing records as Divine Myles became the program’s all-time leading scorer, Angel Rivera set the record for career assists and Luke Doyle established the mark for most career 3-pointers made.

Under William’s guidance, Derick Newton earned All-Atlantic Sun Conference honors in 2017 and Brian Pegg was voted as the 2017 ASUN Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The previous year, Stetson reached the ASUN Tournament championship game, marking the program’s first tournament finals appearance since 1994.

In 2014-15, Pegg led the ASUN in rebounding and Newton rewrote Stetson’s freshman record book on his way to earning Freshman All-America and ASUN Freshman of the Year honors. In Williams’ second year at Stetson, Myles and Grant Lozoya earned spots on the ASUN’s All-Freshmen team, while Rivera set the program’s record for assists by a freshman with 120. He and Myles also became the first teammates, regardless of class, to each record 100 assists in the same season.

Prior to taking over the reins at Stetson, Williams spent six seasons as an assistant at Florida State from 2007-13. His career with the Seminoles coincided with the team’s resurgence on the national scene. Through Williams’ recruiting efforts, the Seminoles developed into one of the best programs in the ACC.

During his time in Tallahassee, Florida State won its first ACC Championship in 2012, enjoyed a run of four-straight NCAA Tournament appearances – including a Sweet 16 appearance in 2011, four consecutive years of double-digit wins in ACC play, produced five NBA Draft picks, recorded 16 wins over nationally-ranked teams and appeared in the national rankings four-straight seasons.

Before joining the Florida State staff, Williams was an assistant coach for seven seasons at Oral Roberts from 2000-07, where he aided the Golden Eagles in achieving an average of 18 wins per season, including 20-or-more wins in each of his last three seasons. ORU captured the Mid-Continent Conference regular-season and tournament titles in 2006 and 2007, advancing to NCAA Tournament play each season.

As a player, Williams finished his time at Oklahoma State ranked eighth on the school’s career scoring list with 1,320 points. He led the Cowboys to consecutive NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearances under Sutton in 1991 and 1992. The Cowboys were ranked No. 14 in the final Associated Press Poll following the 1991 season and No. 10 in the final Coaches Poll in 1992.

As a rookie in the NBA, Williams was a member of the Michael Jordan-led Bulls as the franchise captured its third-straight NBA title. Following his one season in Chicago, Williams played parts of the next season with the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Oklahoma City Cavalry of the CBA. He also played professionally in Taiwan from 1995-98.

Originally from Macon, Georgia, Williams earned his bachelor’s degree in education from Oklahoma State in 2002. He and his wife, Nicole, have two children, Jourdan and Corey Jr. (C.J.).

Chad Prewett
Director of Operations

Chad Prewett is in his ninth season on Head Coach Bruce Pearl’s staff and his second year as Chief of Staff.

Since joining the program in June 2014, Prewett has served in a variety of roles including special assistant, interim assistant coach and director of operations.

Last season, Auburn captured its fourth all-time Southeastern Conference regular-season crown, earned its first-ever No. 1 national ranking and turned in the third most wins in school history with a 28-6 overall record. Two players - Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler - garnered All-America honors and became the program’s first-ever National Freshman of the Year and National Defensive Player of the Year respectively. Both were later drafted in the first round of the 2022 NBA Draft (No. 3 and No. 22 overall).

During Auburn’s historic run to the Final Four in 2018-19, the Tigers became the only team to defeat Kansas, Kentucky and North Carolina - the three winningest programs in NCAA history - in consecutive games in NCAA Tournament history. The Tigers became the first team from the state of Alabama to reach the Final Four during the 2018-19 season, which also included a Southeastern Conference Tournament crown and a 30-10 record.

Auburn won the 2018 Southeastern Conference title, its third in program history, behind a 26-8 record, including 13-3 in league play. The Tigers also make their ninth NCAA Tournament appearance all-time and defeated College of Charleston in the first round.

While serving as an assistant coach, Prewett primarily worked with the team’s guards and played a key role in the development of the All-SEC backcourt of Bryce Brown, Jared Harper and Mustapha Heron. Brown was a Naismith Trophy Top 30 honoree and became the 36th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points.

Prewett also had a hand in scouting opponents and was tasked with running Auburn’s zone defense.

He returned to his role as director of basketball operations prior to the 2018-19 season, a role in which he held for a few months following the 2017 season. Prewett earned the promotion following three seasons as the special assistant to Pearl after joining the program in June 2014.

Prewett handles the team’s budget and travel, while spearheading numerous fundraising campaigns and events for the basketball program and Coach Pearl.

He is heavily involved with the Pearl’s AUTLIVE initiative to benefit cancer patients in the fight to beat cancer as well as the Bruce Pearl Fore the Children Golf Classic and Bruce, Barkley and Basketball Golf Classic. He directs all of the Bruce Pearl Basketball Camps.

Prewett also offers support in the Auburn Tip-Off Club, which resumed activities in 2014-15 following a two-year break and saw the highest participation in club history.

Prewett joined the staff following a seven-year run at Lee-Scott Academy, which began in 2007, as both the boys and girls basketball and track coach. He led the varsity boys basketball team to the 2012 AISA State Championship, a runner-up finish in 2011 and the Final Four in 2009 and 2010. Over the years, the Lee-Scott boys teams went 139-31. On the girls side, he led the program to four AISA State Championships (2009, 2011, 2012, 2013), a runner-up finish in 2014 and the Final Four in 2008 and 2010.

Five times he was named the AISA All-Star Game Coach, he was the 2009 AISA Coach of the Year and the OA News Coach of the Year four times (2012 - boys; 2008, 2009, 2011 - girls). He also coached the AISA Track State Champions in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Prior to Lee-Scott, Prewett was the varsity boys basketball and track coach at Faith Academy in Mobile from 2004-07. He led the boys basketball team to the 2006 AISA State Championship, the 2005 Final Four and was the 2006 AISA All-Star Game Coach and Coach of the Year. He led Faith Academy to a 63-21 record.

Prewett started his coaching career at Escambia Academy. From 1995-2004, he was a coach for the basketball, football, golf and track teams and added the title of athletics director from 1998-2004. Escambia was awarded the AISA Chairman's Award for Outstanding Program in 1998, 1999 and 2000.

Prewett earned a bachelor of science degree from Troy State University in 1994 in health, physical education and recreation and a master's degree in Foundations of Education in 2000. He and his wife, Tonya, have three daughters: Madison, Mallory and Mary Mykal.